Good health is central to wellbeing and depends on a multitude of factors including healthy lifestyles and fair and equitable access to healthcare, a central pillar of the European way of life. Healthcare in turn requires safe, effective and affordable medicines. Great progress has been made on human health in the European Union in recent years,  with average life expectancy at birth in the EU having increased by 3.3 years since 2002. New medicines, vaccines and treatments have helped to tackle some of the leading causes of disease and life threatening illnesses.